


Extraction

by official_dave



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-08-21 11:49:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16575890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/official_dave/pseuds/official_dave
Summary: It was supposed to be simple. Get in, get Megido, and get out. But Lieutenant Captor just couldn't have one good mission.Ambushed by the enemy, Sollux's unit must get to the extraction point, or die trying.





	Extraction

It was supposed to be an easy job.

Sneak behind enemy lines. Smuggle Private Megido out under the pretense of protecting the hostages. The enemy wouldn't see it coming so long as Serket’s forces kept them occupied.

As a matter of fact, up to a certain point things had gone off without a hitch. The sneaking part hadn't caused him or his team any trouble. Even Private Nitram had managed to keep his damn mouth shut for the duration of the extraction. Megido had been glad to see them.

But Lieutenant Captor should have known something was wrong after radio silence from Serket. If she had won, Sollux wouldn't have heard the end of it. She crowed louder than a stork with a megaphone. The nature of the mishap was unclear, but Sollux had good enough pitch to know it was something to the tune of Serket’s forces being entirely anticipated. And it must have been a swift and crushing defeat, because the enemy forces had caught Sollux’s unit red handed much earlier than any contingency plan had been prepared.

So things were going great.

Nitram was the first to notice something was wrong; unsurprising, considering the boy was a bundle of nerves. But Nitram was also the first to receive a blue bolt of energy to the chest, slamming him against the wall and exposing Sollux’s unit to a lot more rustblood than they had hoped to see. He was probably dead before he knew could react.

They were pinned down on Floor 2 of the prison complex. Energy bolts swept through the few and tiny windows with pinpoint accuracy.

Vantas swore. “HOW'D THEY FIND US?” he shouted above the booming of ricocheting beams.

“it doe2n't matter!” Sollux barked back. “we're not far from the goal! ju2t get to the 2taiir2!”

Taking great care to keep his body below the windows, Sollux inched forward at a painstaking pace on his stomach. It had to be slow work - lest he end up like Nitram.

Captor’s tiny division had already grown to a fraction of what it had been - he could see that Makara had met the same fate as Nitram, and he couldn't be sure if anyone besides Vantas and Megido - who was right beside him - was still alive. That would rule out Pyrope, too. The thunderous sound of gunfire against the prison complex walls helped him forget it, however, as he pulled himself through the door frame and into the flight of stairs which separated each floor.

As he turned to peer into the second floor carnage, he could see his assessment had been correct. Pyrope and Makara had both taken fatal hits. Pyrope had been hit so hard that her glasses were gone, and her corpse was bent over a water fountain. Sollux turned away as Megido and Vantas availed themselves of the room as well.

“no tiime to look back,” Sollux instructed his last two soldiers. He knew Vantas would be tempted. Even if they were thicker than thieves, Vantas tended to wear his heart on his sleeve even in the heat of battle, whereas Sollux had managed thus far to keep his own under control.

His heart, to him, had two sides. The heart of Lieutenant Captor was cold, clockwork, calculating, and catlike in a fight. It beat blue. Its other half bled red, and it was that which made himself and Karkat Vantas like brothers. The heart of Sollux Captor could burn brighter than a radioactive sun.

Sollux had known Karkat since the beginning of their careers. Karkat was flame-tongued; he protected those who couldn't protect themselves. But Karkat was also rebellious by nature. Sollux felt a similar tug in his heart, but he had learned that if you want responsibility, you keep that part of you under control. That was what kept Vantas at Private.

But it was not all bad for Vantas. Pyrope was a kindred spirit. Sollux speculated that, had Vantas been promoted, he would have been moved to another division, and without that, he never would have met Pyrope. The two hit it off instantly, despite Karkat’s prickly nature. Sollux minded his own business - as a matter of fact, it was kind of foreign and weird to see Vantas so pleased - but if he had to guess, he would say there was something more than camaraderie there.

Unfortunately, it looked like this was the end of the line for Pyrope. So Sollux ordered Vantas not to look back.

The stairs turned a corner before opening up into the first floor. Naturally, the enemy's foot soldiers had reached the floor by now. Vantas spoke for the whole trio when he muttered, “SHIT.” As the three descended the stairs, they were once again forced to retreat from the hail of gunfire, back behind the corner.

“will this help?” Megido inquired. In her palm she held a grenade.

“...ye2. where diid you get that?”

“gamzee.”

Sollux didn't remember Makara carrying grenades, but then, there were a lot of things about Makara he wouldn't ever figure out now. “giive that to me. and it's makara. you're on a mission.”

He lobbed it around the corner and into the midst of the foot soldiers. He could feel the blast even from here. “move! ii'll cover you!”

Megido and Vantas ducked low and sprinted towards the back door, through which they had come in at the beginning of the extraction. Sollux sprayed a torrent of energy at the remaining live soldiers, then followed suit.

“almo2t there!” Sollux could see the copter, their escape. It wasn't far now.

“WE'VE GOT BIG FUCKING TROUBLE,” Vantas countered, ever the voice of encouragement.

Sollux confirmed his worst fears as he glanced back. Sure enough, the remaining foot soldiers were still giving chase. And from the long barrel of one gun sailed a rocket grenade.

“a heat seeker? but we're s0 cl0se!” The tremor in Aradia's voice made him clench his teeth. Truth be told, to hear her like this was nearly as much torture as it had been to hear of her capture.

Megido hadn't become his friend immediately. Of course, neither had Vantas or anyone else in his life. The blue half of his heart made sure of that. No one could get too close, lest he allow one more chink in his armor.

But Aradia was like a file, sawing away at him. And with her, he could let go, and be himself a little. Red, sarcastic, self-deprecating Sollux. He might even compare the two of them to what Vantas and Pyrope had.

He thought all this in the span of a split second. The heat seeker hurtled toward them. Sollux knew what he was going to do. Megido and Vantas weren't going to go out with him; he would take their place and make sure of it.

Until Vantas pushed him aside and threw himself around the heat seeker. In one last moment of lucid vision, Sollux swore he could see Karkat clutching Terezi’s red glasses for dear life. When had he taken them?

Then Sollux shut his eyes as the light from the blast shot into his retinas. He felt himself thrown into Megido as Vantas died, shielding the two of them from the blast.

Hall blinded, Sollux instinctively grabbed Megido’s hand. “we need to move!”

The helicopter was mere yards away.

The enemy was gaining.

They broke into a run.

The enemy readied their guns.

Sollux knew they couldn't make it without fighting back.

He turned and planted his feet,

“what are y0u d0ing?!”

“2aviing our a22e2.”

“y0u have to b0ard!”

“ii wouldn't make iit!”

“i can't leave y0u here!”

“you wiill, becau2e ii'm your liieutenant!”

Sollux drowned out her rebuttal by squeezing the trigger. He only hoped she was running. If she wasn't, this was all for nothing.

The blitz of bullets, he was sure, didn't hit anyone. His aim was off in his panic. He was terrified; he had never _died_ before. Of course his aim was off.

The first blast to hit him got him in the hand. His gun was torn from his hand, and the force of it sent him into a spin. He fell on the cold ground, hard. The next blast went to his unguarded stomach. He wasn't much longer for this world.

But he could hear the helicopter blades tearing up the air.

They had won.

Sollux didn't even feel himself lose consciousness.

* * *

In his hive, Sollux removed his helmet. His head was covered in sweat. Jesus, what an immersive piece of technology - not that he would say it out loud. To do so would be admitting there was a system better than what he could crank out.

Beside him, Aradia removed her own headset and beamed. “we did it, s0llux!”

Sollux allowed a half-smile. “hey, 2omeone look2 2ullen.”

Karkat frowned. “THIS IS MY FOURTEENTH DEATH IN A ROW. I HAVE EVERY FUCKING RIGHT TO BE MAD.”

Sollux snickered. “hey, thiink fa2t, priivate!” He tossed a coaster toward Karkat. Karkat scowled.

“LISTEN, YOU SOFT JACKASS. YOU SAY ONE MORE WORD AND I'M LEAVING WITH YOUR COMPUTER.”

“do iit, you won't.”

“ASSHOLE!” Karkat stood up and bolted for Sollux’s room.

“waiit, fucker, don't actually do iit - “

But as Sollux tried to stand, he became aware of the new presence weighing him down. Aradia, head in his lap stared up at him, giggling.

Sollux immediately sat back down.

Yeah, he could stand to lose his computer for this. In fact, he was glad Karkat wasn't here to see this.


End file.
